Toy gun for shooting marbles



United States Patent 2,775,964 TOY GUN FOR SHOOTING. MARBLES Oliver J. Brown, Somerset, Ky.

Application September 22, 1954, Serial No. 457,640

2 Claims. (Cl. 124-21) This invention relates to a toy gun for shooting marbles.

An object of this invention is to provide a toy gun having a barrel with a breech and a projector, the breech being urged forwardly by means of a tensioned rubber band and held in a rear set position by means of a locking pin. A trigger is carried by the breech housing and is adapted upon inward pressing thereof to move the locking pin to released position whereby the projector will move into the barrel and discharge a marble from the barrel.

Another object of this invention is to provide a toy gun which can be made out of wood, plastic or other suitable material.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toy gun which is simple in construction so that it will not get out of order and will withstand rough treatment.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toy gun which is safe for a small child to handle.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawing and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a toy gun constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal substantially medial crosssectional view taken on the horizontal plane of line 22 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail cross-sectional view taken on the horizontal plane of line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now more specifically to the drawing, reference numeral designates, in general, a toy gun constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. The toy gun comprises an elongated block formed of wood or other suitable material and includes an arcuately-shaped handle portion 12 which is integrally connected at its inner end with a breech housing 14.

The breech housing is provided with a circular passage 16 which extends inwardly from the outer end thereof and which terminates substantially adjacent the inner end of the handle 12. Intermediate the top side 18 and the bottom side 20 of the breech housing, the same is provided with a transversely extending slot 22 which opens in the planes of the opposed sides 24, 26 of the housing.

An elongated substantially rectangular slot 28 extends downwardly from the top side 18 of the housing and communicates at its inner end with the transverse opening 22. It should be noted that in making the transverse opening 22, the same intersects the longitudinally extending circular passage to form an arcuately-shaped longitudinally extending groove 30.

An elongated cylindrical breech block 32 is slidably mounted in the groove 30, the breech block having a manually operated stud 34 secured thereto and projecting through the slot 28 above the upper end of the breech housing 14.

A cylindrical sleeve 36 having a pair of opposed open ends extends transversely through the breech block intermediate the ends thereof and is adapted to slidably receive a reciprocating locking pin 38. One end of the breech block 32 is provided with a notch 49 which extends transversely thereacross, and the other end of the block 32 is adapted to engage against an enlarged cylindrical piston 42 which is also disposed in the longitudinally extending guide 30.

One end of a piston rod 44 is secured to the piston 42, while-the other end thereof projects away therefrom and is adapted to be slidably received within a hollow tubular guide 46 disposed within the outer end of the circular passage 16. The guide member 46 is provided with a reduced end portion 46a which projects beyond the breech housing 14.

One end of a cylindrical muzzle 48 is detachably secured on the reduced end portion 46a, the longitudinally extending bore 50 thereof being adapted to receive a projectile, such as a marble 51, therein.

As seen in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawing, a substantially helicoidal spring 52 is disposed within the breech housing 14 and surrounds the piston rod 44, to serve a function to be described. This spring 52 is seated at one end against the inner end of the guide 46.

A pair of pins 54 extend transversely across the slot 22 adjacent the muzzle end of the breech housing 14 and are adapted to receive the opposed bight ends of an endless resilient element such as, for example, a rubber band 56. The band 56 is adapted to engage around the inner end of the breech block 32 and engage within the notch 40 formed therein. With the several elements of this toy device in their positions, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, it is to be understood that the rubber band 56 is under tension and constantly tends to urge the breech block 32 and the elements associated therewith for movement longitudinally of the breech housing.

Adjacent the inner end of the breech housing 14, a passage 58 is formed therein and extends from the lower side 20 to and communicates with the transversely extending opening 22.

An elongated slot 60 is also formed in the side 20, the slot 60 communicating at one of its ends with the passage 58. The other end of the slot 60 extends inwardly into the side 20 to provide an undercut wall 62 in the breech housing 14.

An L-shaped keeper member 64 has one of its ends engaging against the side of the slot 58, while the other end thereof extends longitudinally of the slot 60 and is positioned above the undercut portion 62, as viewed in Figure 2. The keeper 64 constitutes a wear plate and stop, and is wedged in position by one end of an L,-shaped spring trigger member 66 which extends inwardly above the undercut wall 62 for engagement against the other end of the keeper 64. The other end of the trigger 66 projects inwardly in the slot 58 for engagement against the adjacent end of the locking pin 38.

As is seen in Figure 2 of the drawing, the trigger member 66 has an intermediate portion 68 thereof which extends outwardly of the slot 60 whereby pressure of the finger on the portion 66 will cause the locking pin 38 to move upwardly in the sleeve 36 thereby moving the locking pin above the keeper 64 and freeing the breech block and its associated parts for movement longitudinally of the housing 14 under the tension of the rubber band 56. As this movement takes place, the piston rod 44 is projected outwardly of the guide 46 for engagement with the marble 51 to eject the same forcibly from the nozzle 48.

During this ejection action, the piston 42 engages against the helicoidal spring 52, the latter serving to arrest the longitudinal movement of the breech mechanism to prevent the stud 34 from engaging the end of the slot 28 with force suflieient to break the same.

The toy gun is readily reconditioned for subsequent play through the simple expedient of moving the stud 34 longitudinally in the slot 28 in the opposite direction. In readying the gun for retiring, as the breech block is moved inwardly of the housing .14, the pin 38 drops into the slot 58 behind the keeper member 64 and engages against the adjacent end of the trigger 68. The toy gun, is then ready for reloading and further use.

Having described and illustrated one of the embodiments of this invention in detail, it will be understood that the same is offered merely by way of example, and that the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a marble projecting gun, a breech housing having an opening extending from its forward to its rear end, a handle projecting from the rear of said housing, a breech block slidably mounted in said housing, said housing having flanges extending laterally from the upper and lower sides of the breech housing, pins connecting the, upper and lower flanges, a doubled elastic band having ends carried by said pins and having a bight portion extending around the rear end of the breech block, a member having a reduced opening fixed into the forward end of the housing, a plunger having a head attached to the forward end of the breech block and a stem extending through and guided by said member, a coil spring surrounding said stem between the member and said head and bearing on the member and providing a resilient stop means, ahollow cylindrical marble holding extension projecting forwardly from said member.

2. In a marble projecting gun, a breech housing having an opening extending from its forward to its rear end, a handle projecting from the rear of said housing, a breech block slidably mounted in said housing, said housing having a slot extending longitudinally on one side and having flanges extending laterally from the upper and lower sides of the breech housing, pins connecting the upper and lower flanges, a doubled elastic band having ends carried by said pins and having a bight portion extending around the rear end of the breech block, a member having a reduced; opening fixed into the forward end of the housing, a plunger having a head attached to the forward end of the breech block and a stem extending through and guided by said member, a coil spring surrounding said stem between the member and said head and bearing on the member and providing a resilient stop means, a hollow cylindrical marble holding extension projecting forwardly from saidmember, a stem fixed laterally in said breech, block and extending through said slot, said stem having a setting button on its outer end,

said housing having a recess on the side opposite said slot, a pin slidably mounted in said breech block in spaced.

relation to the stem carrying the setting button, said. pin beingprojectable into andout of said recess, said recess having a shoulder portion against which the pin engages for holding the breech block in set position, and a trigger held in said recess and having a flattened end against which the. pin engages when projected into the recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,107,586 Burnam Aug. 18, 1914 1,369,401 Cox Feb. 22, 1921 1,524,609 Wright Jan. 27 1925 

